NEWS FROM RISE ABOVE RECORDS

Received a newsletter from Rise Above Records earlier today, with lots of exciting news. Might as well give it to you in full so nothing is left out.

MELLOW CANDLE - Swaddling Songs PLUS Deluxe vinyl set
Apologies to everyone that has pre-ordered this set and is still waiting. Due to the nature of the contents and packaging of this item, it has taken longer than expected to manufacture.

We were expecting this to have been delivered and shipped by now but have been informed by the pressing plant that it will not now be with us until the second week of November. Of course we will start shipping them as soon as they come in, but please allow at least a week after then until they are all shipped. Any inquiries please email sales@riseabove records.com

INCREDIBLE HOG - Volume 1 +4 Vinyl COMING SOON!
We have been told by the plant that this will be ready and with us by late October/early November. The regular version comes with a an added 10" EP, featuring the four killer previously unreleased studio tracks recorded in 1973 and a 16-page LP sized booklet.

The die hard edtion will be 300 copies on pink vinyl and also includes a picture sleeve 7" featuring alt takes of the lost studio sessions and an embroidered iron-on patch.

BANG - Death of a Country first time on vinyl!
Yes, also due in at the same time as Incredible Hog vinyl will be the first time ever vinyl release of Bang's legendary (unreleased at the time) debut album. Available for pre-order soon.

CATHEDRAL Anniversary, A New Ice Age and Farewell
We are delighted to announce the release of the first ever official live Cathedral album. Recorded at the bands 20th Anniversary concert in December 2010, it comprises of two sets, spread over two separate discs. The first disc contains the one-off performance featuring the original Forest of Equilibrium line-up, in which the album was played in its entirety. The second disc is a rollercoaster doom ride through the bands following years of hard-rocking diversity.

The set comes in two editions, the special edition containing mini LP replica's of each set, a 40-page booklet and gig poster. This edition is strictly limited to the UK/Europe and is a limited one-off pressing. Japanese and American editions will vary.

Unfortunately, again due to manufacturing issues, the European release date for Anniversary has been forced to be put back until November 14th, though we will most likely have copies in before that ourselves. Vinyl box set for Anniversary will be released next year.

On another note, we are also excited to be releasing a brand new 2-track 12" EP by Cathedral entitled A New Ice Age. Featuring exclusive Dave Patchett artwork, this release comes in a series of limited colours and features two monstrously heavy tracks - Open Mind Surgery & Sabbadaius Sabbatum.

Special editions of 100 white and 200 transparent blue, both including A2 poster will be on sale exclusively at the bands Farewell show (plus Grand Magus, Comus & Gentleman's Pistols) on Saturday December 3rd at London's HMV Forum, Kentish Town.

HORISONT album coming soon & EXCLUSIVE UK appearance with Pentagram!
Yes, we are very pleased to announce the signing of this promising Swedish band. Second full-length coming early 2012. In the meantime, catch them with Pentagram - a show not to be missed!

Coming in 2012
Angel Witch - brand new studio album
Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell - debut studio album
Astra - The Black Chord (second full-length studio album)
Brân - Rise Above Relics CD Box & Vinyl reissues of all three studio albums
Comus - Out of the Coma 12"/mini LP brand new recordings PLUS the infamous unheard Malgaard Suite.
The (original) Iron Maiden - Maiden Voyage (remastered from original tapes)
Purson - debut 7" ltd to 300
Rog & Pip - Our Revolution. Amazing release for Rise Above Relics featuring tons of previously unheard studio recordings from this heavy early 70's duo of ex-Sorrows members.

www.riseaboverecords.com

DEATH IN JUNE Helsinki, Finland, October 12 2011

Last time Death in June performed around my parts was in 2003 when they played in Stockholm. That time I missed out on the whole thing, and I never thought I’d get another chance. But then, all of a sudden, Death in June felt like celebrating their 30th anniversary, and a bunch of dates in Europe started to surface. Of course nothing in Sweden, but Finland is not that far away so it was a no brainer to go.

So there we are, at the DOM venue in Helsinki, and finally the intro starts and Douglas P enters the stage. People are starting to cheer, but he waves at us as to stop. He places a couple of incense sticks on his monitors, puts his guitar in place, and then quickly leaves.

After about 15 minutes or so, Douglas Pearce and John Murphy (SPK, Current 93, NON and plenty others) make it to the stage, with their trademarked masks on and in full camo gear. “Death of a Man” starts it all off and I instantly feel I’m in for a very special night.

After the first song the masks are off and a trip down memory lane begins. Apart for some new tracks from the latest album, “Peaceful Snow” (we get to hear them as they were originally written and we are among the first in the world to hear them this way, Douglas assures us), we are showered with almost all the songs I was hoping for. I mean, how can you go wrong with “All Pigs Must Die”, “Kameradschaft”, “Rose Clouds of Holocaust”, “Little Black Angel”, “Runes and Men”, “But, What Ends When the Symbols Shatter” and “She Said Destroy”? You can’t of course.

Death in June end the night with “C’est un Rêve” and the words; “Thank you and goodnight… and goodbye I guess…” It looks like he’s about to say something more, but makes a gesture with his hand as if to say, “no, it doesn’t matter”, and leaves the stage.

It was truly a night to remember, and as I’m pretty sure I’ll never get another chance to see Death in June live again, I couldn’t be happier that it was such an amazing performance.





Text and photos by Mattias Andersson.

ROADBURN OFFICIAL ARTWORK + TICKET INFO

The official artwork for Roadburn Festival 2012 has been unveiled. It's made by Voivod's Michel "Away" Langevin, and as you probably can see, inspired by 50's and 60's sci-fi art in combination with 80's computer game aesthetics.

More ticket information has also come our way. The much sought after tickets will go on sale (as you already know) on November 26, at 10:00 CET. The prices for the 2012 fest are as follows:

3-day passes: € 177,50 + service fees (1000 available)

4-day passes, including Afterburner: € 197,50 + service fees (1500 available)

Single tickets for the traditional Afterburner event: € 32,50 + service fees (500 available)

ULVER TO HEADLINE ROADBURN 2012

We've waited some time for this, and finally it has come true; Ulver to Roadburn 2012. The Norwegian act will headline on Thursday April 12. Apparently they are going to time travel back to the 1967 edition of the festival, what this is all about we just have to wait and see. Knowing Ulver, anything can happen.

The following is from Roadburn.com

Ulver cleave to a path of their own making, constantly carving out new sonic territories. They are by turns brilliant, perplexing, disconcerting, soothing, brooding, cogitative, thrilling and vexing. During the 1990′s they started with their “Black Metal Trilogy” (Bergtatt, Kveldssanger, Nattens Madrigal) which managed to run the gamut from primitive sounding black metal to folklore-inspired acoustic songs. They made their first major style shift with Themes from William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell in which they incorporated elements of industrial and electronica and melded them to texts written by Blake.

The 2000′s found leader Kristoffer Rygg (Garm) assembling a completely new lineup based around programmer / keyboardist Tore Ylwizaker (who joined the band for Themes…) and Ulver was free to go off on their own unique musical path that resulted in an amazing array of styles: minimalist ambient works (Teachings in Silence), full-blown techno / electronica (Metamorphosis), electronic post-rock / trip hop (Perdition City), symphonic soundtrack music (A Quick Fix of Melancholy, Svidd Neger), complex psychedelic / avant-garde rock (Blood Inside) and finally, a more traditional band-playing-instruments approach on 2007′s haunting Shadows of the Sun.

Ulver‘s latest record, Wars of the Roses, adds multi-instrumentalist Daniel O’Sullivan (Guapo, Æthenor, Miasma & the Carousel of Headless Horses etc.) to the lineup and they are now a seamless amalgamation of the enormous spectrum of sounds that they have prospected during the last decade. It promises to be a wild musical ride at their 1967-performance, we can hardly wait!

JUSTIN K BROADRICK NAMED ARTIST IN RESIDENCE FOR ROADBURN 2012

He did an amazing set with Godflesh at the 2011 edition of Roadburn, and was supposed to perform with Jesu last year but had to cancel. In 2012 he will be back as artist in residence, performing three different sets as White Static Demon vs. JK Flesh, Final and Jesu. Broadrick, being a personal hero for as long as I can remember, this is almost too good to be true.

The following is from Roadburn.com

Broadrick’s distinctive style involves coupling minimalistic drones with melodic, darkly layered, psychedelic guitar textures. He has an obvious willingness to experiment, as his influences range from shoegaze to dark ambient, from grindcore to industrial, from drum ‘n bass to power electronics. The styles he manifests by creating all-encompassing, yet devastatingly claustrophobic visions from minimalist means are all elements whose fumes have pervaded countless different acts at Roadburn over our many years.

Justin K Broadrick will carry on a tradition that  began in 2010 with Enslaved (performing the Armageddon Concerto together with Shining, Norway as part of their residency), followed by Circle in 2011. Justin will play 3 different sets during Roadburn Festival 2012, starting off as White Static Demon vs JK Flesh on Thursday, April 12 at the Midi Theatre. That is Broadrick’s power electronics project followed by JK FLESH, his heavy electronic based project which encompasses dissonant textures coupled with post hip hop / dubstep / drum and bass stylings.

On Friday, April 13th, Justin will perform as Final. Initially started as a two-piece punk band with a drummachine in 1982, the group recorded its first demo when Broadrick was thirteen years old. The project developed to embrace electronics and dark ambient throughout the years. Justin revived Final by himself in 1993.

Broadrick’s residency will lead into his main project, Jesu, performing on Saturday, April 14th. Named after the last song on the final Godflesh release (Hymns), Jesu (i.e. Broadrick) quickly got established as one of the seminal post-rock pioneers. Since the release of 2006’s Silver EP, which gained comparisons to My Bloody Valentine or Slowdive, Broadrick’s sound evolved further into pop and indie sounds, while maintaining the claustrophobic sonic density his work is renowned for.

DOPETHRONE TO ROADBURN 2012

And yet another very welcomed addition to the 2012 Roadburn Festival. I've been listening a lot to Canada's Dopethrone the last year or so. If you haven't heard them you can probably guess from their name what you are in for; extremely heavy sludgy doom of course. Check out their two albums, "Demonsmoke" and "Dark Foil" immediately!

Dopethrone will play Voivod‘s Au-delà du Réel on Friday, April 13th at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland.

FIRST TWO IDEOLOGIC ORGAN RELEASES IN STOCK

The first two releases from Stephen O'Malley's (Sunn O))), KTL, Khanate etc) Ideologic Organ label are now in stock.

The first one is Phurpa - Trowo Phurnag Ceremony 2xLP (SOMA001)

Stephen O'Malley comments: "Russian group led by the contemporary artist Alexei Tegin take on a traditional and ancient form of Tibetan ritual music by the name of Bon. While many familiar aspects will be revealed to the informed listener, the group PHURPA takes the polyphonic singing style to a lower key and a slower pace. Over the course of 4 LP sides this meditative listen unveils many spectral illusions and invigorating evolutions in sonic possibilities."

The second release is Jessika Kenney & Eyvind Kang - Aestuarium LP (SOMA002)

Stephen O'Malley comments: "Amongst many other amazing pieces Jessika & Eyvind collaborated on SUNN O)))'s "Monoliths & Dimensions" album, Jessika leading the choir on the piece "Big Church" and Eyvind composing the acoustic arrangements for "Big Church" & "Alice". I learned an immense amount about music through these collaborations, specifically the idea of Spectral music through research and discussion/reference points of composers such as Grisey and Murail. Aestuarium is a beautiful piece of minimalist spectral music which has brought great pleasure to my ears over the years."

Next up on the label is SUNN O))) Meets Nurse With Wound - The Iron Soul of Nothing 2xLP (SOMA005). More info on that one here.